Broken Shells
by cabbitqueen
Summary: Discontinued. AU: Hinata, a patient in a psychiatric ward, Sasuke, her new doctor. Can he find the pieces to fix her broken shell? SasuxHina, slight ShikaxHina rating for language and adult situations and content
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own characters.**

- - - - -

_A shrill scream. The sounds of weeping. The scent of blood._

_Mother? Mother? Mother?_

_The moon cast a crimson shadow in the cold room and the last thing pale eyes saw was the lifeless form of her mother._

_Mother what happened?_

- - -

Neji Hyuga frowned as he drove his car in to the institute's parking lot. Every month he paid a visit to his younger cousin, he was the only one in the family who bothered to visit her, though he doubted she even knew who he was. Hanabi had expressed the desire to visit her older sister as well, unfortunately it was too much of a danger to both girls.

Golden autumn leaves danced in the wind as Neji parked his car. It was a day like this when she was first brought here 4 years ago. It had been a traumatizing experience, one that no one really knew what had exactly happened, except that the wife of Hiashi and the mother of Hinata and Hanabi had been brutally murdered. The only witness was the eldest daughter, Hinata, who had become a shell of her former self, barely speaking and unable to move for the most part. Some had speculated that Hinata had some how snapped and murdered her mother, yet no charges were ever brought against her. It was heartbreaking for Hiashi to commit his daughter to the institute, yet it was for her own good and the good of Hanabi.

Neji sighed as he carried a bouquet of lilacs into the building. He missed his dear cousin and her gentle smile. He hoped that she would someday return to them and he could see that smile once again.

- - -

"So while you are here, I hope that you can help us with our more difficult patients." The platinum blond said as she handed a chart to the new doctor.

A smooth, pale hand grasped the chart and dark eyes squinted as he read the chart. "Dr. Yamanako…"

"Please cal me Ino, Dr. Uchiha, we are colleagues after all." The blond interrupted, a slight blush on her cheeks as her light blue eyes examined the handsome man sitting across from her.

"I see, Ino." He said as he looked back at the chart. "There is only one name on this chart. I only have one patient?"

A slight tic formed in her eye as her friendly gesture was not returned, she had hoped Dr. Uchiha would allow her to call him by his first name as well. Alas he did not, though she was quite aware of his cold exterior she had hoped she would be able to warm him up. Given time she was certain she could figure out what made him tick. She was a pretty damn good psychiatrist after all, though he was as well, hence why he was here.

"Yes, for now. She's our most docile "problem" patient. Once you become more accustomed to the place, I hope you can move on to our more violent ones." Ino said as she batted her eyelashes to no avail.

Dr. Uchiha glared at the woman who was shamelessly trying to flirt with him. Why did he transfer here? Oh that's right because that damn teacher of his, Dr. Kakashi Hatake had been assigned to his ward, and like hell he was going to work with that lazy pervert.

"You do know my previous position was the head psychiatrist at the state penitentiary, right? I can handle "violent" patients pretty well." He coldly said. If this is how it was at this institute, he would have been better off dealing with Kakashi. At least he didn't flirt with him, as he suspected ever female employed here would.

"Ah, no need to be offended," Ino said as she saw the signs of annoyance from the man before her, "It's just how we do things here to ease you in. That one hasn't spoken in years as her chart says."

Dark eyes glared at the woman before looking back at the chart. "Fine, I suppose I should go meet her then." He said as he stood up.

"Ah, wait, I'll go with you." Ino hastily said.

Dr. Uchiha coldly stared at the woman.

"Ah, it's just, her cousin is visiting today, and he's not a friendly person. He's rather protective of her," Ino explained.

Dr. Uchiha sneered as he walked off, not waiting for Ino.

- - -

"I brought you lilacs, they have the same color of your eyes Hinata." Neji softly said to the frail woman who sat on the ground. He was thankful the institute had its own gardens, Hinata seemed to like them a lot. She seemed a little bit like her former self when she sat in them.

"Your hair is getting so long, Hinata. Do you want to cut it? You look pretty with it long though. But you always liked your hair short when you were younger." Neji continued to talk. He hoped Hinata liked his voice, yet he knew she would never answer him. Perhaps he talked to make himself feel better.

The crunching of grass interrupted Neji, as he turned to see Dr. Yamanaka and a new man walking towards them.

"Hello Neji. Hinata looks happy that you are here." Ino said with a faint smile.

Neji's face hardened. Worthless doctor, none of them could help Hinata. If he could he would just take her from this place and care for her on his own. He was certain she would be happy with that. Unfortunately, it was up to Hiashi to have his daughter discharged, and he would never do such a thing.

Ino took a deep breath, Neji was harder to deal with then Hinata. "Ah, well Neji, I'd like to introduce a new doctor who will be looking after Hinata, Dr. Sasuke Uchiha. And Dr. Uchiha, this is Hinata's cousin Neji."

Both men looked at each other with disdain.

Turning back to Hinata, Neji patted her head, "Hinata I'll be leaving now, I'll come visit you soon though, with more pretty flowers." With that he walked away, not speaking to either doctor.

"Ah, sorry about that Dr. Uchiha," Ino said. "Like I said, Neji's not friendly He's only kind to Hinata it seems."

"Hn." Dr. Uchiha said as he looked at his new patient. His new female patient. His new gentle looking female patient. A pang of panic shot through him as he realized he wasn't quite sure how to handle this. All his other patients had been violent, angry men. His usual methods wouldn't work on this girl. In fact he was certain his usual methods would further traumatize this girl.

"Ino." He said. "I don't think I would be a good doctor for this patient."

"Hm?" Ino looked at him confused. "Don't worry, we don't expect you to cure her, we don't think she'll ever get better. She's just to help you get used to the place."

He frowned at that. They weren't trying to help her? They had given up on her? That seemed wrong. No wonder Neji was pissed at doctors. 'Might as well try,' he thought as he crouched down in front of his patient.

"Hello Hinata. My name is Sasuke. I'm going to help you."

- - - - -  
**A.N.  
I know I should work on my other stories before starting new ones, but this plot kept me up all night so I had to start it. Sound good so far? Just trying something a bit different since Hinata is usually the one caring for Sasuke. And I haven't done a real SasuxHina yet...**


	2. Chapter 2

The flicker of fire danced at the end of a cigarette as Neji took a long drag from his toxic addiction. With a sigh he exhaled a puff of smoke as he watched it travel and dissipate into the air. "New doctor, huh." he muttered his eyes hardening as he snorted in disgust. Damn doctors. They were all the same, they all tried to help Hinata, certain that they could "cure" her, yet they all had given up on her. But not he, no, Neji would never give up on her precious cousin. If only he was given custody of Hinata, he could make certain she would be happy. And then surely she would return to him, his smiling Hinata. Sighing Neji stood up and walked to his bar to pour himself a drink, gin and lime on the rocks. He stared intently at the wedge of lime floating in the gin before swallowing his drink in one gulp. The burn down his throat into the pit of his stomach where it sat and warmed him helped to distract him from his loneliness. He really did miss her smile. Their family...it was so cold, yet her smile was so warm. He would do anything to get that back. Looking at the clock he saw it was 3 a.m. The new doctor would be calling in a few days, like all the others. Neji slowly walked to his bed. He would do his usual routine in the morning. He did have a few days till he called after all.

- - -

Sasuke groaned as he poured over all the files and charts of his new patient.

Severe trauma from the murder of her mother.

He grimaced. It hit just a little close to home for him. However, he was confident he could help her, he just needed more information. Taking a sip of his now cold coffee, he leaned back into his chair. Taking care of psychos for so many years, he was amazed he himself had not gone insane from the work. 'But I've already been there huh...' he bitterly thought to himself. Yes, her case hit a little close to home, but he had overcome it, and he was certain he could make her as well.

Placing his cup on coffee on the desk he glanced at his clock. 3 a.m. He should try to get some sleep. The paperwork wasn't going anywhere. He could look through it some more in the morning. Once he got enough information he could follow up with her family in a few days.

- - -

The chatter of the female orderlies and the doctors could be heard from the staff room as the women gathered round to squeal over the new doctor. Of course none were brave enough to do so around said doctor, his icy demeanor made him extremely unapproachable, yet he was certainly the topic of conversation at the water cooler.

"I wonder if he is available?" one nurse mused.

"He's so cool looking! He has such sexy eyes"

"I bet he works out a lot! I wonder what he looks like under his clothes!" "

Hm, I wonder why he transferred here?" an orderly suddenly asked.

"He was the head psychiatrist for the state prison right? Why would he give up such a good job to work here at a private institute?"

"Maybe he got in some trouble"

"Maybe he had an affair"

"Maybe the prisoners were too hard to handle"

And so the gossip mongering continued, much to the disdain of the topic of conversation who could clearly hear all their words through the open window as he walked outside to check on his patient in the gardens.

'Don't they have anything better to do then sit around and talk? Like help their patients?' He bitterly thought.

How the hell this was one of the top institutes with employees like that was beyond him. Sighing he glanced through Hinata's chart again. 4 years and barely a word. 4 years, and 10 doctors. Ino Yamanaka had be the one to work with her the longest, for 1 year. Since then none of the other doctors lasted more then 4 months before giving up. Sasuke was disgusted by the lack of effort to help the poor woman. Her trauma wasn't going to get cured over night and it certainly wasn't going to get cured if her doctors kept changing. Sasuke frowned as he looked at the picture of the woman when she was first admitted to the institute at age 17. Her eyes were void of all life. And now at 21, her eyes still were void of life. No progress had been made. His normal course of action would be rather harsh and shocking; he was certain however that would not work with this woman. He would just have to be patient, something he naturally was not. But all of his patients had some improvement. His pride as a doctor would not allow him to leave her like this now that she was in his care. Even if it no one else expected anything, he did.

Standing behind his patient as she sat on the grass, she almost looked normal. What had she seen that night? The murderer was never caught and the family did not try to find out either. Sasuke frowned at that thought...her family. She had been abandoned by her family here, save for her cold cousin. He was certain there were reasons, reasons he shouldn't pry into, but he needed to know to help her.

"Hinata." He softly said. No respose or indication she had heard him. "I'm going to contact your family. Is there something you want me to tell them?" Sasuke continued as he stood in front of her to watch her reaction. Nothing.

Sighing, Sasuke stood up and softly patted the girl on the head as her cousin had done in the hopes she would become accustomed to his presence and perhaps start to open up to him.

Walking away as he jotted down more notes on her charts, the rustle of the autumn leaves drowned out her soft voice. "Mother"

- - -

Sasuke growled. He was supposed to meet Neji Hyuga at this cafe at exactly 1 p.m. It was now 1:15 p.m. The bastard was late.

It was a huge pet peeve of his, tardiness, all thanks to his former teacher's annoying habit.

With a frown he beckoned the waitress over and ordered a Turkish coffee, strong and bitter, just how he liked it.

The chime of the door told the cafe a new customer had arrived.

The hostess said not a word to the man as he entered. He was a regular patron, and though he could be troublesome, he always paid at least twice the cost of the repairs for his often outbursts of anger. Like that one time a waitress gave him the wrong tea and he threw the cup against the wall...he ordered a new set of china cups for them. So they could put up with his anger so long as his pockets ran deep.

Casually he walked to the booth where Sasuke sat and frowned. This Dr. Sasuke Uchiha, Neji did not like him one bit. After researching the doctor who would be caring for Hinata now, Neji was rather displeased with the man's past and methods.

"Dr. Uchiha." Neji coldly said.

Standing, Sasuke greeted in an equally cold manner, "Mr. Hyuga"

Both men sat down and faced each other. The waitress brought Sasuke's coffee and Neji's usual. She sorely hoped he wanted green tea today. When he had made no sign of displeasure she quickly scurried off, lest he should change his mind.

"You're late." Sasuke sharply said.

"You said to come at my convenience, and it was my convenience to make you wait." Neji arrogantly said causing Sasuke's temper to be tested.

Gritting his teeth Sasuke pulled out a notebook and pen. "Fine. I have some questions to ask."

"No." Neji calmly said as he sipped his tea.

Sasuke paused. Did this...asshole...just tell him no?

Sasuke glared at the man in front of him.

Placing his cup of tea down, Neji continued, "No, you may not ask questions. All the information is in her file, the Hyuga will not say any more. Not like anything you do will help. You'll give up like all the rest." With that Neji made his way to stand and leave but paused when Sasuke spoke, "I don't fucking think so. I'm going to help her, and you're going to help me." Sasuke dangerously said however Neji was un-phased by the man's temper.

"No." Neji firmly said. "And this is exactly why, Dr. Uchiha. I've read about you, you've been under investigation many, many times over improper treatment of patients. Many claim you beat and abused them."

Sasuke's eyes became red with rage, "All the claims were dismissed, as you're reading should have said." he slowly said to maintain control.

"True, but I'm not going to let a nut case who's been a committed patient in his youth take care of my Hinata." Neji taunted. "I read that too, the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke Uchiha"

The crashing of china resounded through the cafe as the tea and coffee fell to the floor and shattered.  
In the background Sasuke thought he heard a scream, and the distinct smell of blood.

- - - - -  
**A.N.**

**Woah…two chapters…**

**How are you liking the Sasuke/Neji interaction? Since Hinata won't be talking much for a bit these two will be interacting a lot.**


	3. Chapter 3

_In the background Sasuke thought he heard a scream, and the distinct smell of blood. _

Pale lavender eyes glared into black ones.

Blinking once Sasuke tried to regain some composure.

"I'm a nut case, huh?" Sasuke slowly said, making note of the slight twitch of Neji's right eye. "If you don't want a violent nut case to care for your cousin then wouldn't that rule you out as well?" He taunted with a smirk. "I've been reading up on you as well, you know."

Neji clenched his teeth as he slowly sat down.

Sasuke reveled in the obvious annoyance of the Hyuga and taking his own seat notice he had cut his right hand. 'So that's why I smelled blood,' he thought. Taking the napkin he wrapped it around his hand to stop the bleeding.

The waitresses quickly cleaned up the mess and brought out new cups of coffee and tea. Broken cups were preferable to broken tables or chairs after all.

Neji tried to cool his temper as he stared at the man in front of him. Few people knew of his past and he was curious to know what exactly Sasuke had discovered.

"You're rather successful, aren't you." Sasuke said to gauge a response. "Typical of a Hyuga. You're a security strategist, correct?"

Neji merely reached for his new cup of tea and blew the steam off of it waiting, knowing full well the Uchiha had more to say.

"It suits you. If I recall, you've been in juvenile detention a number of times for assault in your youth, and you also are required to take anger management as well as see a psychiatrist in order to keep your past off the record." Sasuke said as he opened his notebook.

Neji frowned. "And how do you know this?"

"I was a State psychiatrist." Sasuke said taking out his pen.

"That is an invasion of privacy and abuse of your position." Neji threatened.

"Not really." Sasuke said. "You just made a shitty security system if I could get that information. The State used you to design it correct?"

Neji gritted his teeth. What was this bastard aiming at? Blackmail?

"And I saw that you haven't bee seeing your psychiatrist lately." Sasuke said, starting to get to his point.

"You're saying you'll be my shrink?" Neji scoffed. "Like I want to talk to you."

"That's just it." Sasuke said. "I don't want to help you either. I want to help Hinata. You just have to talk to me about Hinata. I'll say you're making progress."

"I could have your license for this." Neji countered. "You expect me to trust you with my cousin? You're a criminal."

Sasuke scowled as he gripped his cup of coffee, with tiny cracks showing from the strain.

"Fine. Forget it." Sasuke said as he drowned his coffee and closed his notebook.

Grabbing his coat he was about to leave the café when Neji spoke.

"Wait. Just tell me…Have they given up on Hinata?" Neji asked sincerely, shocking Sasuke.

Taking a moment to comprehend what Neji was asking Sasuke walked back to the booth and sat down.

"They have." He said as he took out his notebook.

Looking directly into Neji's eyes, Sasuke spoke with confidence, "But I won't."

Neji careful scrutinized Sasuke for any signs of deceit. Finding none, he blink and then hardened his gaze.

"I don't like you." He said.

"I don't like you either." Sasuke replied.

"I'm only doing this for Hinata."

"So am I. I want to help your cousin."

Neji narrowed his eyes as he spoke, "If you run away I'll kick your ass."

"If I run away I'll turn in my license." Sasuke countered.

"If…you hurt her…I'll kill you." Neji said, his words full of promise and his eyes full of hate.

Sasuke faulted for a moment, this guy…was unnaturally devoted to his cousin…

"I won't fight you." Sasuke said.

"Good." Neji said as he stood up. "My secretary will contact you about my appointments. And," He said as he eyed Sasuke's hand, "Hinata hates blood."

Sasuke looked at his own hand. The napkin was a deep red, but the bleeding had stopped. He would have to bandage it properly before going back to the institute then.

The chime of the bells told him Neji had already left.

With a sigh Sasuke looked at his notebook. It was a small start, but it was better then nothing.

- - -

Arriving back at the institute Sasuke wondered how many of the women would fawn over him and try to help him with his "injury."

However, when he entered the building, he heard the buzz of chatter, but surprisingly he was not the topic.

Curious, he stopped a nurse to ask what he commotion was about.

"Oh! We have a new patient…and he's a savant!" she said excitedly. "Dr. Yamanaka will be caring for him, but a savant! That's so cool!"

"Oh?" Sasuke said confused. Were savants that interesting?

"I hear he sleeps like 16 hours a day and has no motivation to even bathe himself, but if you ask him a problem or give him a hard puzzle he solves it within minutes!" she continued to chatter, a slight blush on her cheeks as she tried to get closer to the handsome doctor.

Ignoring the woman as he walked away, Sasuke headed to his patients room.

"Hinata," he gently said, "I saw Neji. He is doing well." Watching her face, he saw no inclination of acknowledgement. Sighing, he tried to pat her on the head again, yet she shifted slightly away from him, a flash of fear showing in her eyes.

Sasuke stood stunned, and looked at his hand. His right hand. His bandaged, right hand. _She hates blood_. Using his left hand, he moved to pat her on the head, for which she made no movement and allowed it.

"I see." He said as he left the room staring at his right hand.

- - - - -

**A.N.**

**Thank you all for the comments, I'm surprised this is being so well received! I hope it will continue to hold interest.**

**And I apologize about the formatting yesterday, for some reason I could only upload with notepad so lost formatting. I thought I had fixed all the lines, but I seem to have missed some. (thank you Arethusa Fellini for pointing that out for me!)**

**and gracemis: heh yeah, I was gonna do a shikaxhina, but bluequartz puts mine all to shame (I get my shikaxhina fix from blue-chan's lovely shikaxhina community)! though there maybe alittle shikaxhina interaction in this, it will still be a sasuxhina story!**

**I'm not sure what I'm doing with Neji yet though...**


	4. Chapter 4

Ino frowned as she looked over her chart for her new patient. No doubt about it, the man was a genius, but he was so lethargic that he couldn't function properly in society, which explained why he was brought here. At least he wasn't a danger to society; just his lack of care would be a danger to himself. Unfortunately, Ino had little tolerance for "lazy" people. She hoped she would be able to control herself around her patient. From was his chart said, he had grown up with a loud and strong willed mother, making him abhor the presence of loud women, and Ino definitely could get loud.

Sighing, Ino shook her head. No, she was one of the best, not matter how frustrated a patient could make her she had to maintain control. Opening the door to his room, Ino noted the shades to the windows were pulled down and the lights were turned off. Checking her watch, Ino saw it was 1 p.m. Flicking the light switch on, Ino quickly saw a lump on the bed. A frown worked its way onto Ino's face. He was sleeping? At this hour? Taking a deep breath and counting to ten, Ino walked over to the lump. A mess of dark brown hair was peeking out of the covers and a thin arm was draped across his chest.

'Perfect.' Ino thought. She could check his vitals at least. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ino took his wrist and checked his pulse. "Slow, but steady," she muttered to herself as she made notes on his chart. Looking are his arm, she couldn't help but wonder why he was so thin. "Probably malnutrition…" she again said to herself.

"No. It's just if you use your brain a lot, you use a lot of energy." A tired voice said.

Startled, Ino quickly stood and looked at her patient's face. Chocolate brown eyes peered through the scruffy hair and stared directly at the woman. "Judging from your outfit, I'm assuming you're a doctor." He said.

"Yes." Ino said, staring at his face. Or she would have been looking at his face if his shoulder length hair wasn't covering most of his face. Trying not to get annoyed she continued, "I'm Dr. Ino Yamanaka. I'll be looking after you for now. Please call me Ino."

Her patient merely grunted and yawned.

Twitching slightly from annoyance Ino said, "I just need to get your vitals and some information on any needs you might have while here."

Her patient said nothing. Clenching her teeth, Ino looked at her chart, "Fine, your name?"

"Don't you have it on my chart? Why ask me for it too?" He lazily said.

Ino tightly gripped her chart. Thue, she already knew his name, but she was trying to get him to be more familiar with her to make treatment easier. Would it kill him to tell her his name?

Watching his doctor carefully behind his strands of hair, he calculated many outcomes to this meeting. Judging from the way she talked and held herself she was very confident and outgoing. She understood her job, and her techniques of gaining patient trust weren't bad, but they were too direct. Noting her slight twitch and her current grasp on her chart, he frowned. She was awfully similar to a person he did not particularly like being around. Sighing, he decided the sooner he got her out of his room, the sooner he could sleep, but he had to make sure she was content with the meeting or else he was positive he would get a headache.

"Shikamaru Nara. I'm in relatively good health, just always fatigued." He said as she looked a bit happier as she made notes on her chart. Certain that she would leave now he started to get comfortable for another nap. He was tired now that he had thought about this meeting so much. Ino glanced up while she was writing, and the hair in his face was still bothering her. She couldn't read his facial expressions well so she couldn't tell how his mood was. Placing her pen down she walked over to Shikamaru.

Opening his eyes he looked at her a bit confused. He wasn't expecting this. Had he read her wrong? Impossible. He contemplated hundreds of possible results, and he chose the one with the highest probability of being the correct outcome. Waiting to see what she would do, Shikamaru made careful mental notes of her actions for future encounters with his doctor.

"You're hair is a mess." Ino said as she reached into her pocket.

It surprised him. However, looking her over again, Shikamaru saw that her entire outfit and appearance was carefully planned out. 'So she's also vain.' He thought but was shocked when he felt her touch his hair.

With a pull or two and a twist, Ino had successfully put Shikamaru's hair into a ponytail. His hair was awful, full of split ends and all uneven in length so his ponytail kind of stood up and looked all spiky, but at least his hair was out of his face.

"There." She said with a smile, "Now I can see you face."

Shikamaru sighed. Figures, she was a doctor, she needed to read his face to gauge her own actions. Though that meant she wasn't as good as he was in she needed his face to be clearly seen. However, it was kind of nice to see everything now. He had been too tired to do anything with his hair, so he left it as it grew. Waiting for her to leave, Shikamaru carefully watched Ino as she gathered her chart and pen. Happy with herself for putting his hair up, Ino quickly turned to leave, however her long platinum blond ponytail also was whipped around, hitting a ceramic lamp near the bed, knocking it to the floor with a crash.

Embarrassed, Ino told Shikamaru to be careful and not get cut while she went to get a dust pan to clean up the mess. Shikamaru stared at the broken lamp. It was compulsory for him to put puzzles together. Any hard puzzle. Like a lamp that had been shattered to hundreds of tiny pieces. Slowly crawling from his bed, Shikamaru was careful not to walk on the sharp ceramic. Gathering up the pieces, he sat on the floor and started to sort through them. The big ones would be the easiest to work with right now, especially since he didn't have any glue.

That was how Ino found her patient when she returned to the room. She was stunned. He was supposed to be unmotivated, yet he was sitting on the floor trying to piece the lamp together. Hearing her enter, Shikamaru looked up and said, "I need glue." With that he turned back to his new puzzle. Leaving the room to get him glue, Ino made more notes on her chart. Apparently she had just found a way to motivate Shikamaru for a bit.

Walking to his office, Sasuke was trying to figure out how he could get Hinata to open up. Her fear of blood had caused her to move a little, but he didn't like the idea of scare tactics for her, at least not to start with. Checking his palm pilot he sighed. He was meeting with Neji tomorrow for his first "session." Hopefully he could get some useful information. Glancing at his watch it was 4 p.m. 'I guess I should head home for today.' He had not other patients and Hinata was all set for today. Appraching his office door to get his coat, Sasuke was almost bowled over by Ino, who was running with her arms full of glue and tape. "What the?" He said annoyed as Ino paused to get a better grip on her glue supply.

"Ah, sorry Dr. Uchiha. Its just the new patient has something that makes him happy right now so I want to keep him occupied for now. He really likes puzzles so putting them together keeps him active and moving." Ino said. She was so happy Shikamaru liked to fix stuff. Ino had also broken a vase and a plate to make sure Shikamaru would be occupied till the evening since he had finished the lamp within two hours.

Sasuke watched Ino run off. "An activity to make them happy, huh?" He muttered. He wondered if he could find such an activity for Hinata.

- - - - -

**A.N.**

**Well tomorrow is the last day of my easy week at work, meaning stories will go back to my usual updating. My usual readers know this means once a week or so...**

**And no, nothing romantic between Shika and Ino will be going on here.**

**and sorry about the lack of Sasuke and Hinata in this chapter...but needed to give some focus to Shikamaru since he will be helping out Hinata alittle.**


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke walked into the sterile white building and glanced around. It was cleaner then a hospital, though he personally did not enjoy the frisking at the door. He tried his best not to be annoyed, this was a security systems building after all. If it wasn't secure, then how could they keep other places secure?

Though Sasuke had to admit, the security guard at the door was a bit creepy, and very out of place in the sterile white office. He slightly wondered who in their right mind would wear a full body green workout suit. And the guard was a bit too touchy feely for his own good. Sasuke could have sworn the guy groped his butt. 'He must not have gotten much attention as a child.' Sasuke mused as the thought back to the exuberant guard. Checking his watch he saw he was five minutes early.

"Can I help you?" a voice suddenly spoke up from behind.

Slightly startled, Sasuke turned and glared at the woman who had spoken.

Unabashed, the woman simply glared back at Sasuke and spoke again, "I said can I help you? What are you doing here? If you don't have an appointment you'll have to leave."

Sasuke blinked and quickly assessed the woman, her voice was familiar, Neji's secretary that he had spoken to earlier. Tall, tan, thin and he assumed she had long hair, yet it was tied up onto her head in two neat buns so he could not be certain.

"I'm Dr. Uchiha. I have an appointment with Neji Hyuga." Sasuke said as he sat down on an office chair.

The woman frowned and walked to her desk. Picking up her phone she dialed a number.

"Neji? Your appointment is here. Okay, I'll let him know." Hanging up the phone she looked at Sasuke and said, "He's finishing up another meeting so you'll have to wait."

Sasuke frowned. Was he doing this on purpose? Neji knew Sasuke hated to wait around.

Picking up a magazine, Sasuke tried not to get pissed off. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay calm as he saw the minutes pass.

- - -

"Your father said no." Neji frowned at the young woman standing in his office.

"But you get to go! Why can't I?" She said as she glared at Neji. If looks could kill, she would have murdered him several times by now.

"Hanabi, that's different. He's your father, not mine." Neji said as he sat down at his desk.

"But she's MY sister, not yours." Hanabi said with a frown. "I just want to see my sister! Is that too much to ask?"

"Then I suggest you ask your father. Not me." Neji said as he looked at the clock on the wall. He was 20 minutes late for his appointment. Not that he cared if Dr. Uchiha was pissed, but personally Neji hated dealing with Hanabi.

"But he'll say no. Come on, just once, I want to see her." Hanabi whined.

"Hanabi, I'm going to call your father if you keep this up." Neji said, using his last resort.

The pale young woman turned a ghastly grey. Her father was as strict man, and he had strictly told her not to ask about her sister. "Fine, I'll leave. But I'm not giving up!" she said as she walked out of the office.

Sasuke brooded in the reception area as he stared at the clock. Maybe he was over obsessing over the time, but he couldn't help it. Being late really pissed him off.

The clicking of heels drew Sasuke's eyes from the clock as he saw a young woman, who had a striking resemblance to his patient. Sasuke stood, and from the corner of his eye he saw Neji following the woman, who was clearly irritated.

"I said I was going home, you don't have to follow me!" Hanabi said.

"If only I could trust you Hanabi. However, you've tried to dupe your father and I one too many times." Neji said.

Glancing to his secretary, Neji spoke, "Tenten, have Lee make sure Hanabi goes straight home."

"NO! Not the eyebrow guy!" Hanabi protested. "I can't be seen in public with that green freak! And he always holds my hand and says the stupidest things!"

"Good. If he's holding your hand, you can't run away." Neji said as he shoved the woman out the door.

Watching the guard Lee taking Hanabi's hand, Neji finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was out of his hair for today.

Walking to Sasuke, he noted the slightly curious look on the doctor's face. "I hope it amused you." Neji coldly said.

Sasuke's face hardened as he said, "Well I'm owed something for waiting so damn long."

Neji merely scoffed and turned to walk to his office.

Sasuke clenched his teeth tightly. This guy really pissed him off. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that he needed help from the asshole to help his patient. Standing up, Sasuke slowly walked to Neji's office.

Entering Neji's office, Sasuke could have sworn he saw the Hyuga smirking, because Neji Hyuga was at his desk, talking to someone on the phone.

Sitting down in front of Neji's desk, Sasuke took to glaring hard at the Hyuga.

Checking the time, Sasuke scowled when he saw that the hour for the appointment was almost over. Apparently the Hyuga asshole decided that instead of talking to Sasuke, he was going to talk to anyone on the phone.

Clearly pissed off, Sasuke violently stood up and started to walk out the door.

"By the way, Dr. Uchiha," Neji said, pausing his conversation, "Hinata loves animals and flowers."

Sasuke frowned at the wide grin on Neji's face. A whole fucking hour just to learn that? Sasuke was so very pissed off. With a huff, he stormed out of the building. Today was clearly a waste of his time.

Outside, Sasuke punched a nearby tree out of frustration. So much work for a patient and it was so very trying on his nerves. After dealing out quite a bit of anger to the poor tree, Sasuke felt much calmer. Unfortunately his hand was bloody again from the abuse. Frowning that he would have to go home and clean his hand again, Sasuke got in his car.

However, before he could close his door, he heard a small cry. Pausing, Sasuke looked around. Near the tree he spied a box. Going against his better judgment, Sasuke got out of his car and walked over.

A kitten.

It had clearly been abandoned. Sasuke frowned. He hated animals, especially cats. They reminded him of an awful childhood experience with this horrid cat that always ran away from its owner. Sasuke had been one of the children in the neighborhood employed to catch that awful cat. He never had so many scratches before. And ever since then he hated cats. Turning, Sasuke walked back to his car. Someone else will pick it up.

_She likes animals and flowers…_

Sasuke frowned. This patient…was too much work.

Walking back to the kitten, he bent down and said, "You better help me."

- - - - -

**A.N. Again, sorry no Hinata in this chapter.**

**And my PC died and I had to buy a new one. So I lost all the chapters I was working on for my other stories. Updates will be much slower for the time being.**


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